Thomas Berding: Paintings from the Surplus Mound

Exhibition Dates: March 28, 2017 - April 22, 2017

Reception: Thursday, March 30, 6 - 8 pm

Paintings from the Surplus Mound, a solo exhibition of recent works by Thomas Berding continues the artist’s exploration of the seemingly endless sense of surplus that surrounds and defines many aspects of our contemporary existence. Drawing from conceptual and material structures and choices which linger beyond their intended use, in compelling fashion Berding’s recent paintings give vision to a world where new connections are constantly being forged and associations drawn. The layered and encrypted character of these conceptual beginnings is multiplied further by the artist’s use of stencils, collaged paint skins, and diverse paint handling. In the process, the boundary between an image and its means of fabrication is often exposed and the singular reference for any image dissolved or disrupted. The picture that results is of a world in a chronic state of being rebuilt and reimagined. 

Thomas Berding was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and received an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Berding’s paintings have been recognized with awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and NEA/Mid America Arts Alliance. His work has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at the University of Maine Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, and in October 2016, Oakland University in metro Detroit mounted a survey of the last decade of his work which was accompanied by a major catalog. Over his career, Berding has exhibited at many venues including the David Klein Gallery, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Rochester Institute of Technology, Indiana University, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Savannah College of Art and Design, and Rhode Island School of Design Museum among many others. Thomas Berding currently lives and works in East Lansing where he is Professor of Studio Art at Michigan State University.

For more information on the artist visit: www.thomasberding.com

View Brochure: Berding_tri-fold.pdf